A New Year's Kiss
by turnt4turnadette
Summary: When Shelagh misses her curfew at the boarding house due to a New Year's Eve party at the children's ward with Timothy, what will happen when Patrick offers to let her stay at his flat?


Shelagh and Patrick got into his car that night in the area of parking by the hospital. They let the families with children in the children's ward stay past visiting hours for a New Year's eve party. Shelagh had not seen Timothy as happy as he was tonight in a while. She frowned when she looked at her watch and realized it was 11:15 at night.

"What's wrong?" he asked her

"I missed my curfew at the boarding house" she replied

"You can stay at my place tonight" he offered

"That sounds good, thank you" she told him

"You are always welcome" he said

He cranked the car and they drove off towards his flat. As he drove, she realized although she had stayed overnight at his house before without having improper relations before marriage, this would be the first time staying there without Timothy. "What if they got carried away?" she thought to herself. Maybe she should have asked for him to drop her off at Nonnatus and she could have stayed there the night, but it was too late now. She calmed herself when she thought about their conversation they had when they agreed that waiting until marriage was important to the both of them. Patrick was a good man, he would never force her into anything that she was uncomfortable with. They drove home in a comfortable silence while Patrick held her hand with the one he was not steering with. They drove up to his house and he parked the car. He got out of his car and walked over to passenger's side and opened the door for her.

"Thank you dear" she said as she grabbed his hand so he could lift her out of the car.

"No problem" he replied with a smile

He locked his car and she followed him to the front door as he unlocked it. He opened the door and they went inside through the hallway into the sitting room. They looked at each other not sure what to do next. Shelagh felt nervousness coil in her stomach at the uncertainty of what would happen next. She snapped out of her thoughts when Patrick asked "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes that would be great" she answered

He went into the kitchen to put water into the kettle and she sat down at the table in the kitchen.

"It seemed as Timothy was in a good mood tonight" said Shelagh

"I agree, I think the party really cheered him up" he replied as he got two cups from the cabinets and placed them on the table.

"I think it was good for us too, to get to spend time as a family and forget everything, even if it was just for a little while" he added

"Yes" she said and smiled. The kettle started to howl and he took it off the stove. He poured the tea into the cups, placed the kettle on the table and sat down across from her.

"I am just so thankful that he will be here to see 1959, just a week and a half ago that seemed like a certain thing. It's crazy how things can change so quickly" she added

"I don't know what I would do without him, I just wished I would have seen his symptoms before it escalated so severely" he said

"I should have noticed too, and I wish that I did, but there is nothing we can do to change that, all we can do now his help him to get better" she said as she grabbed his hand. They held hands over the table and she rubbed her thumb against his hand to comfort him.

"You always know just the right thing to say" he told her

"Thank you" she replied and smiled

They finished their tea and got up out of their seats. As Shelagh put their cups into the sink, she heard Patrick say "It is midnight, Happy New Year!"

She turned around and exclaimed "Happy New Year!"

"May I have a New Year's kiss?" he asked

"Yes you may, it will be my first and I'm glad that it is with you" she answered

"You've never had a New Year's kiss?" he questioned playfully

"Well my teenage years were pretty boring and most years if I wasn't on call or at a delivery I was asleep at midnight because I had lauds at the crack of dawn" she replied with a laugh

He leaned in and she closed her eyes as their lips met. She kissed him back and they kissed slower than she could ever remember. Then he surprised her when she felt his tongue trace the front of her lips and she opened her mouth as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He pressed her against the wall as they snogged which excited her a lot more than it should considering they were still engaged. She quickly fell in love with how it felt to be pressed against him and the way their tongues intertwined with one another. His hands traced up and down her back as her arms were wrapped behind his neck. She didn't know how they would ever stop until she felt the need for oxygen dwell within her. They broke their embrace to catch their breath and to regain some sort of control before things went too far.

"That kiss certainly didn't disappoint" she gasped

He beamed at her and said "Well I'm glad that I was able to give you a proper New Year's kiss"

"It's getting late, you have a long day of work ahead" said Shelagh

"Yes we need to get some sleep" he replied

"You know that you can come sleep in my bed, I promise there won't be any shenanigans" he offered

"As nice as that sounds, I think it would be best if I stayed on the settee" she told him

"I understand, do you want to borrow the same pajama top as last time?" he asked

"That would be great" she answered

"I'll go get the shirt and some blankets and pillows for you" he told her

"Sounds good" she replied

He brought the blankets, pillows and the shirt and he helped her spread out the blankets on the settee to form a makeshift bed.

"I'll be just upstairs if you need anything" said Patrick

"Alright, goodnight love" she said as she grabbed his hand and kissed it

"Goodnight my love" he told her and walked out of the sitting room and up the stairs.

Shelagh went to sleep that night thinking of how things finally felt like they were coming back together again for the first time in a while.


End file.
